On Tuesday, Jan. 7, millions across the country were alerted to a huge fire that had begun that morning in Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood in Los Angeles. This wasn’t a rare occurrence as Southern California is known for its dry weather that easily sparks flames. However, the especially windy conditions that week greatly increased the risk of fires spreading quickly in the area. Over the rest of January, several more fires ignited and 40,000 acres of land were burned, leaving a huge section of one of America’s most iconic cities unrecognizable.
Even though the massive fires are now contained, nearly 200,000 people have been evacuated and at least 29 were killed. Much of the city is irreparably damaged and now thousands have lost their homes in a city with an already large unhoused population.
However, many non-profits and some corporations have recently started delivering wildfire aid to the victims by collecting donations, providing emergency shelters and creating hygiene kits. The most well-known fundraiser was the Fire Aid benefit concert that took place in two locations in the LA area on Jan. 30. At the music fundraiser, dozens of music’s biggest names including Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga performed, and it’s estimated that it raised $100 million. Two days later, the Grammys also accepted donations for the fires and collected around $7 million.
One organization in Portland that has done a great deal to send aid to wildfire survivors is Positive Charge PDX, a volunteer nonprofit. The Positive Charge Club is an extension of the nonprofit at Ida B. Wells. Katie Douglas, IBW senior and club co-leader and founder, joined forces with IBW’s leadership class when they decided to do a supply drive to create hygiene kits for the wildfire evacuees.
Both Douglas and Lisa Klein-Wolf, the leadership teacher at IBW, have family who live in the LA area and felt very passionate about helping in any way possible. “My philosophy as an educator and as the activities director [at IBW], is that we create community by doing things that are good for our community,” says Klein-Wolf, who taught for several years in the Pacific Palisades, where the fires originally broke out.
“When I saw that they were doing this drive, I just felt like we could help,” says Klein-Wolf.
“It’s just people going through their everyday lives that didn’t know… this was going to happen, and their lives just got turned upside down in five minutes,” Douglas says. We have so much that we can do to help… make the transition a little better.” She is very grateful for Klein-Wolf and the leadership class, adding that they were able to “really take what we were doing and expand it to such a bigger level.”
The Positive Charge Club and the leadership class also partnered with Convoy of Hope, a California-based relief organization. Convoy of Hope was in LA after the fires to help support the fire victims and alerted Positive Charge exactly what supplies were needed for the survivors.
After about a week of collecting supplies and donations from all over PPS, the Positive Charge Club and the leadership class created over 600 hygiene kits. Each package has toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels, deodorant and other necessities to assist Los Angeles.
Many other Northwest organizations like the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland and the Red Cross Cascades Region also fundraised and volunteered to ensure the safety of the wildfire victims. During this difficult time for Los Angeles, the Portland community is doing their best to support our southern neighbors.
“It’s impressive,” Douglas says, “and it’s amazing to see that… so many people are taking action to care for others.”
